November BJP page finished

Here are pix of my November page, using a photo of the vineyards I took the other day. One shows the fabric collage I made as a background, the other with beads sprinkled on top.

Here's a pic of the finished piece - it's a bit lumpy because I just folded back the edges, leaving them like that for now until all the pieces for the year are finished when I can decide how to mount or frame them or make them into something. I'm surprised at how fast I did it - finished in just one day!

I may do another piece based on the sun shining through this clump of foilage.

November TIF finished

Here's the finished piece and pix showing progress. I used my initials, MJB, as the basis for the design, using goldwork couching technique to do the first two gold designs, then decided to repeat them larger in a fan shape on top but just couching in the negative space, and the final piece reminds me of a maple leaf, not a bad design considering I'm originally from Canada.


I think it may be a little bag when it grows up. I've since added a couple of beads but will post that pic later.

Multitasking

As usual, I've been working on both the November TIF and doing head designs for the November BJP. A head design is where you know what you're going to do in your head but you just haven't had time to get it out there in the real world.


The November TIF was "to use typography as inspiration for a piece". OK I'm a bit of a snob because I thought, "soooo design school exercise," and "been there, done that" when I used to do graphics and typesetting three decades ago. But no - try to get inspired and do something new. Here are a couple of bad pix of my "signature" on some old pieces I have around the house - my initials - MJB - mostly in fly stitch.

So I decided to use my initials as the lettering and to execute the design in goldwork. Here is a pic of progress - I've since ripped out the first motif and re-did it with sharper corners and much neater. I'll be adding some beads and I also want to explore the design with "voided" shapes, where you stitch the negative spaces around the shapes ... if I have time.


Here's a field we drive by regularly that I want to use for the November BJP, where the vintner has planted all different varieties of vines that turn different colours in the fall. These pix don't really do it justice, but it's my inspiration. I had to laugh as I was walking back to the car, passing a man with a serious camera heading to the spot I'd just vacated to take his photos.

Loading up the new workbox

Just finished the new workbox this morning and decided to transfer my sewing implements from the old one. The pic shows both - you can see how the old one was disintegrating.


My sister sent me this little case of implements that she never used, which came from my gran - it's mostly crochet hooks, with a couple of bodkins, but it felt really nice to mix her implements in with my own, and now the box feels finished. I'm going to wash and press gran's hook holder and keep the really fine hooks in it, then try to look up on the internet what those curved needles are used for - they look like knitting needles bent into a j-shape.